Savior of Jews and Gentiles

Everybody can grab their seat.

As Jen said, my name is Matt.

I'm one of the, or I'm an intern.

We've changed the title a couple times, so I get mixed up.

But basically, Elder in Training.

I want to just give you a brief update.

Thank you for those who prayed for my last test.

I did pass that, and so I'm moving on to the next one.

Thanks for that.

So I go down the end of August down to Covenant Fellowship Church,

where I'll get drilled by, I think, three pastors for like three hours,

and that's the next test.

So, you know, it's a little nerve-wracking, but at the same time,

it's a good and helpful process to go through.

So pray for me for that.

Once that gets done, then it'll move into like a period where we'll set up

like the ordination service itself.

I don't know if there's any other things to pass at that point.

And I'm not sure what that means as a church for us.

So that's another thing you can be praying for.

Like, I'll move into being an elder, but what does that mean?

I still have a full-time job.

And so we haven't really talked about that.

This is just where God is leading.

And so pray that we as a church and the elders, the leaders,

can decide how God is moving us forward as a church in this area.

That would be great and helpful.

I'm going to pray, and then we'll start out.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity that we have to be here tonight.

In this place, being able to hear your word,

Lord, we pray that you would awaken our hearts,

that you would awaken this city,

even as we are affected by the gospel,

and as you push us out through the power of the Holy Spirit

to affect the world around us.

Lord, we pray that even now you would be preparing the hearts of unbelievers

in our neighborhoods and around where we live.

Lord, may this passage teach us and encourage us

and help us this week as we strive to follow you.

Lord, we ask these things in your holy and precious name.

Amen.

Acts chapter 13 is where we find ourselves this evening.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

We're going to start in verse 13 and go to the end of the chapter.

It's a little long, but it's a story that goes together,

so that's why it is not broken up.

Acts chapter 13, starting in verse 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos

and came to Perga and Pamphylia,

and John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

I just want to pause there for a minute.

It's not part of the message,

but there's a few parts as we read that I just want to pause for,

and that is John Mark leaves them at this point

and goes back to Jerusalem.

He's traveled with them for over 400 miles,

so he's committed to the mission,

but for some reason we find here that he goes back to Jerusalem,

and we're not sure why Paul talks about it later

as being something that's not really favorable in his eyes.

So there's some animosity,

there's sort of a struggle there.

Again, we don't know why he left.

He just did.

So I wanted to point that out,

but the other thing I wanted to point out

is in verse 13,

starting from here and moving on through the rest of Acts,

it's not Barnabas and the team.

It's not Barnabas and Paul,

but after the last,

the beginning of chapter 13,

when Sean preached it last week,

you saw how Paul got into the face of this magician.

From then on,

there's this transition in leadership,

and now it's Paul and Barnabas.

It's Paul and the team,

and we see that from here on out.

And I bring that out because I think it's helpful,

because up to this point,

Barnabas, the son of encouragement,

has been such a scene as a big part in the church,

and he still is.

But we see that Barnabas had no problem

stepping to the side

when he saw God bringing up someone

that he wanted to use

more in a primary front seat position.

So this transition,

while it's kind of quiet,

it's important for us,

because we can be those who struggle

with position in the church,

with a title,

with what we can do or not do,

or what someone else is doing.

So I would just encourage you with that

to observe Barnabas' humility

as he serves the Lord.

We pick up in verse 14.

But they went on from Perga

and came to Antioch in Pisidia.

And on the Sabbath day,

they went into the synagogue and sat down.

After the reading from the law and the prophets,

the rulers of the synagogue

sent a message to them saying,

Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement

for the people, say it.

So Paul stood up

and motioning with his hands said,

Men of Israel and you who fear God,

listen.

The God of this people Israel

chose our fathers

and made the people great

during their stay in the land of Egypt.

I'm just going to pause there.

This is the last time I'm going to do this.

It's not part of the message.

But another important thing to remember here

is he says that the people were made great

during their stay in Egypt.

They were in slavery in Egypt.

Their people grew, yes,

but they were in slavery and it was hard.

And yet here, Paul says they were made great

during their time in Egypt.

And so, although it may not seem like it,

this is an encouragement

because we're going to find,

if we haven't already,

that blessing and strength

from the Lord

often comes through times of struggle.

And in this case, slavery.

The people were made stronger,

brought closer to God

through their slavery.

We'll continue on.

Verse 17.

The God of this people Israel

chose our fathers

and made the people great

during their stay in the land of Egypt.

And with uplifted arm,

he led them out.

And for about 40 years,

he put up with them in the wilderness.

And after destroying seven nations

in the land of Canaan,

he gave them their land as an inheritance.

All this took about 450 years.

And after that,

he gave them judges

until Samuel the prophet.

Then they asked for a king,

and God gave them Saul,

the son of Kish,

a man of the tribe of Benjamin,

for 40 years.

And when he had removed him,

he raised up David to be their king,

of whom he testified and said,

I have found in David

the son of Jesse,

a man after my heart,

who will do all my will.

Of this man's offspring,

God has brought to Israel a savior,

Jesus, as he's promised.

Before his coming,

John had proclaimed

the baptism of repentance

to all the people of Israel.

And as John was finishing his course,

he said,

What do you suppose that I am?

I am not he.

No, but behold,

after me one is coming,

the sandals of whose feet

I am not worthy to untie.

Brothers,

sons of the family of Abraham,

and those among you who fear God,

to us has been sent the message

of this salvation.

For those who live in Jerusalem

and their rulers,

because they did not recognize him,

nor understand the utterances

of the prophets,

which are read every Sabbath,

fulfilled them by condemning him.

And though they found in him

no guilt worthy of death,

they asked Pilate

to have him executed.

And when they had carried out

all that was written of him,

they took him down from the tree

and laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead.

And for many days,

he appeared to those

who come up with him

from Galilee to Jerusalem,

who are now his witnesses

to the people.

And we bring you the good news

that what God promised

to the fathers,

this he has fulfilled to us,

their children,

by raising Jesus.

As it is written

in the second psalm,

you are my son,

today I have begotten you.

As for the fact

that he raised him

from the dead,

no more to return

to corruption,

he has spoken in this way,

I will give you the holy

and sure blessings of David.

Therefore, he says also

in another psalm,

I will not let your holy ones

see corruption.

For David,

after he had served

the purpose of God

in his own generation,

fell asleep

and laid with his fathers

and saw corruption.

But he whom God raised up

did not see corruption.

Let it be known to you,

therefore, brothers,

that through this man

forgiveness of sins

is proclaimed to you.

And by him,

every one who believes

is freed

from everything

from which you could not

be freed

by the law of Moses.

Beware, therefore,

lest what is said

in the prophets

should come about.

Look, you scoffers,

be astonished and perish,

for I am doing a work

in your days,

a work that you will not believe

even if one tells it to you.

As they went out,

the people begged

that these things

might be told to them

the next Sabbath.

And after the meeting

of the synagogue broke up,

many Jews

and devout converts

to Judaism

followed Paul and Barnabas,

who, as they spoke with them,

urged them to continue

in the grace of God.

The next Sabbath,

almost the whole city

gathered to hear

the word of the Lord.

But when the Jews

saw the crowds,

they were filled

with jealousy

and began to contradict

what was spoken

by Paul,

reviling him.

And Paul and Barnabas

spoke out boldly,

saying,

It was necessary

that the word of God

be spoken first to you,

since you thrust it aside

and judge yourselves

unworthy of eternal life.

Behold,

we are turning

to the Gentiles,

for so the Lord

has commanded us,

saying,

I have made you

a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation

to the ends of the earth.

And when the Gentiles

heard this,

they began rejoicing

and glorifying

the word of the Lord.

And as many as were appointed

to eternal life

believed.

And the word of the Lord

was spreading

throughout the whole region.

But the Jews

incited the devout women

of high standing,

and the leading men

of the city

stirred up persecution

against Paul and Barnabas

and drove them

out of their district.

But they shook off

the dust from their feet

against them

and went to Iconium.

And the disciples

were filled with joy

and with the Holy Spirit.

When I was about

eight to ten years old,

I lived in Tennessee.

And one activity

that our church did

was on a regular basis

we would go up

about an hour and a half away

and visit this church,

Mount Pisgah Baptist Church.

It was just a little bit

outside of Knoxville.

But it was a Baptist church,

but a few years before

they had gotten a calling

that they thought

was from the Lord

to set up a printing ministry.

They were going to be

printing Bibles.

They felt that that's

what God called them to do

and they raised money

and they bought

what they needed.

They set up shop

in a bus garage

that was big enough

to hold the equipment.

And we would go up there.

I think it was about

once a month.

We would go up there

and spend a few hours

just putting Bibles together.

So it was pretty cool

as a kid

because you got to see

these pieces of machinery

that are used

to make Bibles.

So it was pretty cool

just to see

like these big cutters

that would just cut

like stacks of Bibles

that were like five high.

And you got to see

the machine

where it would like

slide it through the glue

and put the cover on it.

That was really cool

but what was also neat

about it is

it wasn't hard

to connect

to the mission

that they were on.

They were printing Bibles

that were going to be

sent out

across the world

and they were going to be

doing that

so that they could

spread the gospel

in the way that they felt

God was using them

to do that.

It was a really cool mission.

It was also a hard mission.

We, for us

it wasn't very hard.

We just gave up

some time on a Saturday.

Sometimes it was hot.

It was,

what I remember doing most

was these long tables

and you walked around

with this holder

and you just grabbed

little packs of paper

that were small sections

of the Bible

and you just piled them

on top of each other

walking around the table

and you just do that

over and over again

but they used that

and pass it on

to the next person

who would fold it

and cut it

and glue it together

and it would get

put together

and stacked

and put in boxes

and shipped out.

So it was work

but you saw the mission.

You were able to see

the bigger picture

of what was going on.

It was worthwhile

and you know what?

That's an important mission

and there's,

there's thousands

if not millions

like that.

Not that make Bibles

but that do something

for the mission of God

all over the world.

And so,

our passage tonight,

we're going to be looking

at God's mission.

We're going to be looking

at three points.

One is mission directed.

One is mission denied.

And the last one

is mission driven.

So as you can pick up,

it's all about the mission.

The mission that God

is doing in this passage,

in his church,

in his people.

And so those are the points

but as we move through it,

the question

that it leaves for us

is what is our involvement

in God's mission?

It may not be to go

and help put Bibles together

but if you're a Christian tonight,

God does have something

for you to be doing

that is part of his mission.

So that's what I want you

to be thinking

as we move through this.

Last week we saw how

last week it was Barnabas

and Paul,

how they were set apart.

And we saw how they

and also the church

in Antioch,

they became both part

of the mission, right?

The church laid their hands

on them

and set them apart

and gave them what they needed

to send them out.

And Barnabas and Paul

were on the mission

to go and take that gospel

to several places

being led by the Spirit.

And so that's where

we find ourselves tonight.

They arrived at Perga

and that's where

John Mark leaves them.

I have a map

that we'll put up.

I like pictures

so I can see

as we're moving around.

Is that big enough?

Yeah.

Just to get an idea

of where they started,

so they're Antioch

over here on your right side.

That's Antioch in Syria.

They travel down to

Salamis and Paphos.

That's a message

that was last week.

And then they go up to Perga.

And it's at Perga

where John Mark

decides to leave

for whatever reason.

So he's got a long journey

to go back

way down here

to Jerusalem.

But I showed you that

because I think it's helpful

to see

where they're going

on their mission.

It wasn't an easy mission.

Once John Mark leaves,

they're traveling

100 more miles

over mountains

to get to Antioch.

Not this Antioch,

but Antioch in Pisidia.

Antioch,

not to be confusing,

but it was a common,

popular city name.

And so that's why

you might hear that.

There's two different locations.

I think there was about

a half a dozen

in that area

at that time.

So they travel there.

Paul and Barnabas

and their team.

I don't know how many more

were with them

at this point.

We don't know

if they visited

the synagogue

in Antioch

that week.

Maybe they were

wearing clothes

that set them apart,

but there was some reason

why the rulers

in the synagogue

knew that they were

not just somebody

visiting the area,

but of a rabbi status

like Paul was.

So after the reading

of a portion

of the law,

a portion of the prophets,

which is what they

traditionally did

during the service,

they extend an invitation

to Paul,

and they say,

hey, if you or anyone

in your team

has a word for the people,

please say it.

So Paul has a message

that God has.

It's probably not

what the rulers

were thinking.

He stands up

and he begins to preach

to these people

who were primarily Jewish.

There were other people

who were converts,

so they were not Jews,

but they believed in God

and they feared

who God was.

So as we move

into verse 17,

what I want us

to see first,

our first point

in our outline

is a mission directed.

It is a mission

directed by God.

If we start in verse 17

and we move on,

we see all the ways

where God does something.

Man is there,

but it's God

the one who leads.

God the people of Israel,

he's the one

who chose the fathers.

He made them great

and then brought them

out of Egypt.

He's the one

that led them

through the wilderness

and destroyed

the seven nations.

He brought them

to the land

that he promised them.

It says here

that it took

about 450 years.

It's basically

a reference

to their 400 years

in slavery

and then their 40 years

in the wilderness

and then about 10 years

where they are doing battle

as God brings them

into the land of Canaan.

After that,

it says God

gave them judges.

Of course,

they weren't happy

and so they wanted a king.

So it says that God

gave them Saul

and after 40 years,

it says God

removed him.

In verse 22,

it's interesting

that it says

God raised up David

to be their king.

So if we compare Saul,

which we know

didn't go well

as a king,

that's just what

the people wanted.

It says that God

gave them Saul

and when it came to David,

God raised up David.

So we have

different language

being used

by two different kings.

David was an ordinary man,

a son of Jesse.

The difference was

he allowed God

to lead his life

and to shape his heart

into being like God's heart

and that's what we see here

said in this passage.

God's mission

was David's mission.

Now,

some are probably

questioning like most,

but didn't David sin.

Absolutely,

in some really big ways.

But notice that

those sins

didn't change

God's testimony

that he said about David.

The reason why

is because David

was repentant.

He repented

of what he did.

It wasn't good.

It was very evil,

bad things.

But that didn't keep

David from seeing

his wrong sin

and he repented

before God.

He didn't dwell in that.

He didn't try

to cover it up

and make a reason.

Well,

he did try to cover it up,

but once he realized

his sin,

the depth of his sin,

then he repented

and he makes it right

and comes back to God.

That's a message

of hope

to anyone out there

who thinks

that their sin

is too large

for God

to do anything

in their life with.

there isn't a sin

that God's grace

and love

can't cover over

and can't forgive

if we are to repent.

Now we come to

the core of the mission

that God is directing

and that is,

as we all know,

the core of the mission

of the gospel

is Jesus Christ.

He's the promised Savior.

Savior.

We see that

Paul jumps

from David,

King David,

all the way to Jesus

in his sermon here.

So,

1,000 years

he's jumping

in this history summary

that he is doing.

And the connection

he uses

is in verse 23.

Of this man's offspring,

of David's offspring,

God has brought

to Israel

a Savior,

Jesus.

He has promised.

Now,

this connection

from David

to Jesus

would have

been fully accepted

by his Jewish audience

because they knew

the Messiah

would come

from David's line.

Back in Matthew

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22,

it says,

now when the Pharisees

were gathered together,

Jesus asked them

a question saying,

what do you think

about the Christ?

Whose son is he?

And they said to him,

the son of David.

So,

they knew

what to expect.

They knew

where the Messiah

was coming from.

Not only fulfilling

the promise

that would come

through David,

but highlighting again

that God

is the director

of what is going on.

God brought

to his people

a Savior.

God made the promise.

God made it happen.

In verse 24,

Paul mentions

John.

John the Baptist

is who he's talking about,

who was sent

to prepare the way

of Christ,

of Jesus.

He was sent

to call people

to repentance

and to be baptized.

It says,

as he is finishing

his course,

that is,

as his life

and ministry

is nearing

an end,

he says,

what do you suppose

that I am?

See,

some thought

that maybe

he was the prophet Elijah

coming from

the wilderness,

and some even

thought that he

could be

the Messiah.

He said,

do you think

that I am

the Savior?

I am not.

And then he adds

to that,

he uses an illustration

of a servant.

A servant

who already

is in a lowly position,

but the lowest thing

that they could do

is wash the feet

of guests coming in.

And to do that,

they would have to

untie their sandals.

So,

so here he's

pointing out

that he is not

even worthy

to serve in a position

that is the lowest

person doing

the lowest job.

Like,

I,

I am not the Savior,

and up next to him,

I don't even stand

worthy to be

the lowest of low,

is what John the Baptist

says.

Paul continues

in verse 26,

and then talk about

salvation

has been sent

to them.

But we notice

that his,

in verse 26,

his greeting changes.

Previously,

he had said

men of Israel.

In verse 26,

he says,

brothers,

sons of the family

of Abraham.

He's,

he's personalizing

this.

He's pointing out

that they are children

of the people

of Israel,

going back to

the ones

that God chose

their fathers.

their fathers

were the very ones

that God chose,

and they are

from that line,

the sons

of the family

of Abraham.

He's making it

more personal.

He's also reminding

them that they are

part of that family.

Not just reminding

them of that,

but having them

realize the weight

that should accompany

that.

The character,

the faith,

the high standing

that embodies

the weight

or the,

the Abrahamic

family name.

Chosen

and set apart

by God.

They should want

to live up

to that,

that weight

and live in a way

that doesn't

detract

or diminish

that heritage

that God

put in place.

Now,

I also don't want

us to miss

our connection

to this

because we also

have been given

a similar heritage.

As children

of God,

we have been

set apart

by God.

And like

verse 26

says,

we have been

sent the message

of this salvation.

So we should

also live

in a way

that Paul

is encouraging

the Jews

to do

as God's people.

Now,

as we move

into verse 27,

Paul starts

to address

the problem

and that brings

us to our

second point.

So we have

mission directed

and then we have

mission denied.

God has promised

salvation

salvation.

He has brought

it to them

and yet they

deny it.

They heard

the prophets

read it

every Sabbath.

They heard it

read from the

scrolls

and yet they

still condemned

him.

It says

they did not

recognize him

nor understand

the utterances

of the prophets

even though

they were read

every week

in the synagogue

that they

went to

faithfully.

they still

failed to

hear the

salvation

message.

The pointers

took Christ,

his death

and his

resurrection.

In recognizing

Jesus

and understanding

the words of the

prophets,

they failed

in both of

these.

And yet,

ironically,

in their

failure,

they fulfilled

them both.

Out of their

ignorance,

they fulfilled

what they

did not

understand.

Finding no

guilt in

him,

they executed

the innocent

one and

fulfilled all

that had been

written about

him.

But God

raised him

from the dead

and he was

seen for many

days and by

many witnesses.

I think it's

neat that he

is seen,

Jesus,

after he is

resurrected,

he goes to

his people,

his disciples,

close friends.

And that,

I think,

is not only

to comfort

them into

what has

taken place

because they

didn't understand,

but also,

like,

those were the

people who

would know,

who knew

him the

most.

Someone who

would not

be tricked

by it not

really being

Jesus or

him not

really being

dead.

These people

would know

a fraud.

But he

doesn't just

go to those

that Jesus

knew,

most

intimately,

but he

also went

to others

outside of

that group,

appearing to

500 people

at a time

in one spot.

So Paul

lays out

the good

news for

them after

giving them

this in

verses 32

and 33

and reminds

them again

of their

heritage.

He says,

we bring

you the

good news

that what

God promised

to the

fathers,

this he

has fulfilled

to us,

their children,

by raising

Jesus.

Here,

notice he

says,

us,

their children.

He's including

with that

because he

comes from

the Jewish

line as

well.

He's also

leaving out

the Gentiles

who are in

the congregation

at this

point.

He's not

doing that

to make

them feel

secluded,

but Paul

is trying

really hard

to win

over his

Jewish

people,

emphasizing

that what

God has

done

and how

the whole

work of

Jesus was

done within

this Jewish

people,

within their

own people,

their own

family.

Next couple

verses,

Paul gives

some Old

Testament

quotations,

trying to get

the Jews

to see

this promise

of salvation

that is

being fulfilled.

I'm not

going to go

into each

of these

quotations

for sake

of time,

but each

one,

verse 33,

taken from

Psalm,

you are

my son,

today I

have begotten

you.

Verse 34

is taken

from Isaiah,

talking about

the everlasting

covenant made

with David.

And then

verse 35,

a quote

from Psalm

16,

talking about

how David

was human

and how

at the end

of his

life he

did die.

He was

buried in

the ground

and his

physical body

did see

corruption.

But the

Holy One,

speaking of

Jesus at

this time,

whom God

raised from

the dead,

he did not

see corruption.

And now

in verses

38 and

39,

we get to

see the

salvation

point of

Paul's

message.

And he

begins us

with a

little bit

more

authoritative

tone.

Good thing

I wasn't

speaking then.

Let it

be known

to you

therefore,

brothers,

that through

this man,

through

Jesus Christ,

the one

that you

crucified,

the one

you didn't

believe in,

through him

has come

forgiveness

of sins

and is

being

proclaimed

to you.

And then

when he

adds

verse 39,

it's just

beautiful.

He says,

and by

him,

everyone

who believes

is freed

from everything

from which

you could

not be

freed by

the law

of Moses.

Jesus.

This word

freed,

translated

better from

the Greek,

is actually

the word

justified.

And you

can see how

they can

mean the

same thing,

but I

think justified

is just

stronger.

and by

him,

belief in

Jesus,

everyone

who believes

is justified

from everything

from which

you could

not be

justified

by the

law of

Moses.

The Jews

were all

about the

law of

Moses.

They lived

by this

law.

They

added to

this

law.

They

condemned

people

with this

law.

And Paul

is saying

there is

no

justification

from

this

law.

It's

not like

some sins

could be

removed

by the

law.

No

sins

can be

removed

by the

law.

No

freedom

comes

from

the

law.

It

only

brings

demands

and

requirements

that we

break.

And there

is no

freedom.

There

is only

the

pointing

out of

sin

and there's

guilt.

It is

only through

Jesus

Christ.

It's

his work

of

salvation.

It's

our

belief

in that

work

where we

find

freedom,

where we

find

justification.

Paul

ends

his

message

in

verses

40

and

41.

But as

he does,

he gives

a warning.

Again,

using an

Old Testament

quotation,

this time

from Habakkuk

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

The

prophet

Habakkuk

is told

to prophesy

to the

Israelites

that God

will be

using the

Chaldeans

to come

in and

utterly

destroy

them.

the

problem

is

not a

single

one

believed

it

until

it

actually

happened.

And so

in

Paul's

warning,

he's

asking

the

hearers

if

such

unbelief

is

about

to

repeat

itself.

And

then

Paul

ends

his

message.

And

in

verse

42,

we see

that

people

are

begging

to

hear

more.

The

meeting

broke

up

and

there

are

Jews

and

Jewish

converts

that

want

to

hear

more.

Verse

43

says

that

they

followed

Paul

and

Barnabas.

They

spoke

to

them

and

Paul

and

Barnabas

are

encouraging

them,

persuading

them,

it says,

to continue

in the

grace

of God.

This

is

talking

about

the

message

of

salvation

that

they've

just

been

given.

Paul

is

encouraging

them,

listen,

you've

just

been

giving

this,

go

with

that,

don't

go

back

to

what

you

had

before,

but

continue

on.

So as

you can

imagine,

there is

no doubt

a lot

of talk

in the

city

that

week.

There

was a

message

that

was

given

in the

synagogue

that

had

never

been

heard

before,

and

many

people

wanted

to

hear

more.

So

on

the

next

Sabbath,

Luke

says

that

almost

the

whole

city

came

out

to

hear

the

word

of

the

Lord.

Can you

imagine

a city

where

people,

whether

believers

or

unbelievers,

were excited

to come

together

and hear

the word

of the

Lord?

It

would

really

be a

great

revival

service

to be

part

of.

But

from

this

passage,

we

know

that

there

is

trouble

brewing.

Verse

45,

when

the Jews

saw

the

crowds,

they

were

filled

with

jealousy

and

began

to

contradict

what

was

spoken

by

Paul.

Paul

is

preaching

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ.

He's

talking

about

what

God

has

done,

what

he

has

promised,

and

the

work

that

he

is

doing.

So

when

they

contradict

Paul,

they're

contradicting

God.

When

they

revile

against

him,

they're

actually

doing

it

against

God.

If

we

think

about

that,

how

crazy

and

futile

that

is.

God's

people

that

he

called

are

now

contradicting

the

mission

that

he

is

doing,

the

work

that

he

is

doing

to

save

them.

And

as

the

Jews

start

to

argue

here

in

this

passage

and

they're

contradicting

Paul,

verse

46

says

that

Paul

and

Barnabas

had

to

get

loud.

Right?

Before

they

lost

their

chance

to

say

any

more

to

this

crowd

as

they

get

louder,

they

had

something

else

that

they

still

needed

to

say.

It

was

another

important

detail

that

they

had

to

pass

on,

and

it

was

this.

They

said,

it

was

necessary

that

the

word

of

God

be

spoken

to

you

first.

You

Jewish

people,

but

since

you

have

thrusted

aside

and

you

judge

yourselves

unworthy

of

eternal

life,

that

is,

you

are

pushing

away

the

message

of

salvation,

and

by that

act

you

are

pronouncing

that

the

final

verdict

for

yourself

is

that

you're

not

worthy

of

saving,

you're

not

worthy

of

eternal

life.

And

Paul

says

for

that

reason

we're

turning

to

the

Gentiles.

And

that

brings

us

to

our

last

point,

which

is

a

mission

driven.

It

is

driven

forward

even

through

denial.

Paul

says

that

God

told

us

to

move

on

from

you

to

the

Gentiles.

This

was

God's

plan

all

along.

He

quotes

Isaiah

49

reminding

them